LiVE at MAXiMAL
(2016)

1/1 - L Kol L Vav Cha (With All My Heart) (words and music Sonia Rutstein Copyright 2013 BMI)

I think ultimately we have to save ourselves
Not to be selfish or greedy and not for a rainy day
In fact just the opposite

In Pittsburgh P.A. I find the healing to this feeling is by giving it all away

With all my heart
With all my soul and all myself
With all my heart with all my soul and all myself

Would you please stretch your shoulders
All across the ocean
So I can ride above the monsters I don't know or trust or see
Would you please tell me when it gets easier when
He who makes peace above make peace below


L KOL L VAV CHA NOF CHE CHA L KOL ME O DECHA

Would you please do the right thing
Like you said you would
So we can have our wedding loud and perfectly good
With all my heart with all my soul and all myself

With all my heart with all my soul and all myself

Oh say shalom bin roman who yah a say shalom alienu ve yakol
ah ah ah...

 

2/1 - Farmland and the Sky

On a train from Amsterdam to Leiden

I can see the farmland and the sky
I will be the tulips in your garden

Til I am the garden going by

My little sister Jane so young yet so wise
Came upon me on you wedding day
And the gift she gave was better than McDonald's french fries

All she said
All she said was

"Stay awake
It all goes by so fast
Live your life
Cause today won't last"

Now Jane's gonna have a baby

I'm the aunt that's a luxury
I'll get to teach guitar and give 'em candy
And probably leave the diaper changes to Nancy

It's the chases I've been changing
Like the numbers that consume me
I can't promise to quit racing

Hopping lane to train to plane
Making suitcase movies
"Stay awake

It all goes by so fast
Love your life
Cause today won't last"

So I sing this song to Micah, Zach and Dylan

And you and you and you
To stay above the gossip and the ruin

WATER YOUR SOUL and you'll keep blooming
"Stay awake

It all goes by so fast
Live your love
Cause today won't last"

 

3/1 - Red Heaven    (words and music by Sonia Rutstein  copyright 1990 BMI)

I'm feelin' so lonely
And I'm thinkin' of you
Thinkin' of you
You said you'd never break my heart
And I'm broken in two
Take the big clock away, the hands of time
Refuse to listen
Or conduct my symphony a sad adagio
With no no no conclusion
Now all we've got are memories
And mine are all of brilliant leaves
We're driving in the autumn sun
Free falling as we fly away from red heaven

 

4/1 - Washington Work Song   (words and music Sonia Rutstein copyright 1992 BMI)

There's blood on the sidewalk
From someone I don't know
I step around it
So I won't get it on my shoe

On my way to work in Washington
On my way to work in Washington
On my way to work in Washington, DC

My name is America, but I pronounced it George
Some people think I'm rich
But I am mostly poor
And I cover it up to get you to fight in my war

The truth is
I am my own enemy
But I'll buy anything
You advertise on TV

On my way to work in Washington
On my way to work in Washington
On my way to work in Washington, DC

Gotta make it look good
Gotta make it look good
Gotta make it look good

Every Friday, Karen and Katy
Go to take care of babies with aids
Who were born like their mothers
Addicted to crack

Drinking their bottles
Lying on their backs
Just like their fathers
Mom ain't coming back

On my way to work in Washington
On my way to work in Washington
On my way to work in Washington, DC

Gotta make it look good
Gotta make it look good
Gotta make it look good

Gotta make it look good
Gotta make it look good
Gotta make it look good

There's blood on the sidewalk
From someone I might know
Should I step around it
So I won't get it on my soul

On my way to work in Washington
On my way to work in Washington
On my way to work in Washington, DC

Gotta make it look good
Gotta make it look good
Gotta make it look good

 

5/1 - Won't Let Go     (words and music by Sonia Rutstein copyright 2003 BMI)

The very first time I was learning to ride
Without training wheels or you by my side
Down a steep hill I took a right

There was a car coming at me and one from behind

Don't let go – just hold on

Keep your eyes on the road
And your heart in a song
Whatever happened is already gone
Don't let go – don't let go

Then when I was 10, you gave me a guitar

And I said, “dad, I'm gonna be a big star”
And you said, “Son, you better practice real hard
But to me you already are”

She took you to the doctor to get you checked out
See what that headache was really about
When he returned, I thought the news would be bad

Now I'm saying these words to you dad

Then I heard your voice and all my fear disappeared
And I know exactly why we are here
It's for this moment to recognize
That you will always be by my side
And I won't let go... won't let go

 

6/1 - Love Out Loud     (words and music Sonia Rutstein copyright 2012 BMI)

(I wanna hear you)
(I wanna see you)

Say good morning to your mom and pop
Like you may never see them again
See them as the victims of their broken hearts
Know you’re not so different
And you cry on a hill
Thinking why does it still hurt so bad?

You Gotta Love Out Loud
Love Out Loud
Love out Loud
Out Loud Out Loud

Say goodbye to yesterday now
It’s just a memory in a house of fear
Close the door it’s half your size
Best to be on the other side
And out of there

And you side on the hill
Feel your strength, feed your will
Taking you home

You Gotta Love Out Load (I wanna hear you)
Love Out Loud (I wanna see you)
Love Out Loud
Out Loud Out Loud

And you cry on the hill
Thinking how come it still hurts so bad?

You Gotta Love Out Load (I wanna hear you)
Love Out Loud (I wanna see you)
Love Out Loud (Come on)
Out Loud Out Loud

 

7/1 - Me, Too

her daddy was a soldier in the vietnam war
she was proud to see her father in a fresh pressed uniform

he came home on a stretcher in 1966
welcomed by fellow americans throwing tomatoes and sticks

he said, “darling don't you worry, there are 2 sides to everything
I did what I believed in and I want you to do the same

I stood up for my country, yeah that's a solid bet
and I'll stand up for freedom every chance I get

CHORUS
'CAUSE AMERICA SHINES IN FRONT OF ME

AND ALL THE WORLD COULD SEE IF THEY WANTED TO
I RAISE THIS FLAG FOR YOU, ME, TOO

she grew up on the bible she grew up on love
she grew up thinking she could change the world

if she only worked hard enough
so she became a lawyer hoped to marry a good looking man
then she fell in love with the girl next door
though that wasn't part of the plan...

CHORUS

the years spin by while the corn grows high
for every train you catch you miss one
so much of life just passes by
it was time to tell daddy this one

she sat down in the corner she could still see the door
she said, “daddy I gotta tell you something I've never said before...”

he said, “shhhhhhhhhhh... everybody has a war

You see it's not about oil and it's not about guns
it's not about rainbows it's about daughters and sons

if you believe in tomorrow then I have taught you well
cause if you don't believe in yourself life's a living hell...

AND YOU'LL ALWAYS SHINE IN FRONT OF ME
AND ALL THE WORLD COULD SEE IF THEY WANTED TO

I RAISE THIS FLAG FOR YOU, ME, TOO
I RAISE THIS FLAG FOR YOU, ME, TOO

 

8/1 - Long Long Way To Go (words and music by Sonia Rutstein 1989 BMI)

God gave me this here guitar
Pointed to the farthest star and said, "Son
You got a long long way to go"
I said, "I'm the daughter you never had
and I'm really good when I'm bein' bad"
and I'm about to cut the strings on this puppet show
Now to be a stick of dynamite
predicting rain and not a cloud in sight
that's who I am and that's what I'll do for you
We were goin out the other night and I'm wearin my favorite
jeans alright with lots of holes and lots of leg in sight
"How come you're wearing that?" he said
'cause people are hungry and the people are threads
and I'll wear these jeans til everybody's fed
Maybe wish, maybe that, maybe this is all the love you can muster up
Well I called my friend the other day
He lives in that modern town of L.A.
His answering machine said, leave a message friend
It said, practice random acts of kindness
and senseless acts of beauty
and put your cliché softly in the end

 

9/1 - Moment Of Glory   (words and music Sonia Rutstein copyright 1991 BMI)

Nobody's gonna tell me what to feel...

Me and Lisa bought a motorcycle
Strapped my guitar next to her knapsack
She's my lover, she used to be my rival
And I don't want my money back

What I know is I don't know
When I'm sure it's only half the story
What I want is a house on a hill
But I'll settle for a moment of glory

Me and Lisa going down to the ocean
Where the hot sand burns our barefoot skin
She's puttin' on sunscreen 'cause the hole in the ozone's
The same exact size as the American sin

What I know is I don't know...

One man's church is another man's jail
One man's feet go where another man's fall
Tonight I'll throw my hands across steel
Nobody's gonna tell me what I feel

We're on a long ride under the big sky
Lisa's hair is blowing through her baseball cap
I'm holding on tight, gonna ride all night
By dawn I'll be asleep inside her Cadillac

 

10/1 - Box Of Tissues (words and music Sonia Rutstein 1989 copyright BMI)

I put a box of tissues by my bed
'cause I knew that I'd be up forever
Waiting for...you...
I left the light on in the hall
'cause I knew that you'd be fallin'
When you finally come home
And anybody with a heart
Would've been alone
But you brought her
And anybody with a brain
Would've left you then
But I stayed...I stayed...
I gathered all the photographs
In the hope of takin' one long
Steamy bath alone
All the water on my skin
Could not wash away the years of
Tryin' to get in
Even though my love life was
Fast asleep and my heart was
Breakin' to a million pieces, I stayed
I stayed awake, I stayed awake
Even though my love life was
Fast asleep and my heart was
Breakin' to a million pieces

 

11/1 - Biggest Baddest Heart

I cannot convince you, I'm not gonna try
One thing you are born with is your ability to fly
I've got something that you might wanna know
I've got the Biggest Baddest Heart of Gold

So you're in a bad mood are you gonna let it kill the day?
I know you love your drama see the humor make it pay
I've got something that you might wanna know
I've got the Biggest Baddest Heart of Gold

Don't have no Lamborghini to ride you around this earth
Don't have no Masserati to make trails in the dirt
but I got something that you might wanna know
I've got the Biggest Baddest Heart of Gold

You like it once you like it twice
you like it naughty baby or you like it nice?

I've got something that you might wanna know
I've got the Biggest Baddest Heart
I've got the biggest baddest heart
I've got the Biggest Baddest Heart of Gold

 

12/1 - The Banker   (words and music Sonia Rutstein copyright 2012 BMI)

Not a bank it's a banker
Not a paper not a symbol
Not a building not a bubble
Just some bad seed human beings

This is the story of a Middle Man's life
Loved baseball, bowling and banging his wife

And they had 2 children Rick and Jane
And they shared their love kissed away the pain

Chorus 1:
And every day the bills came in

Middle Man paid he best he can
Now only bones are left of him
Cause he gave the Banker all of his skin
Gave the Banker all of his skin

Middle Man believed in free will
Know the credit card is not a magic pill

And when they found a house the bank said BUY IT
Unaware of the Banker's insatiable diet

Chorus 2:
And every day the bills come in

Money became his true religion
There's not one law protecting him
Cause he gave the Banker all of his skin
Gave the Banker all of his skin
How did the Banker reward him?
Raised his rate to 3 times 10

Now the Holy Bank of Taj McColl
Bank of the Royal Untouchables
Rain an endless reign of selfish goals
And stole the American Middle Man's Soul

Chorus one

Middle Man had not a greedy hand
He was a honest Joe like the Cambell's Soup man
But he lost his job and Mama got thin
When they took his house turned to a life of sin
He held up Raheed at the local store
When I win my millions I'll pay up back more”
But that day God forgot to keep score
Middle Man died in a puddle on the floor

Chorus two

Not a bank it's a Banker
Not a paper not a symbol
Not a building not a bubble
Just some bad seed human beings

 

1/2 - Broken Film   (words and music by Sonia Rutstein copyright 2012 BMI)

Highways turn and circles bend
And life defines who'll be your friend
Til you stand under them
You never really know

The glow of headlights on the road
Mark my time tired eyes lowering

To see you pouring red wine on the snow -

Was all the talk we tamed confused
With love unnamed it changed

When I needed you, you were only air

How can someone so alive
Who used to be your side

Happy in a galaxy far away
Starring in somebody else's play

Was all the talk we tamed confused
With love unnamed it changed

When I needed you
You were only air

I put your letter to Dad on a cassette
In an envelope I didn't listen to it

That's between you and you

Was all the talk we tamed confused
With love unnamed it changed

When I needed you...

 

2/2 - Princess and the Honey Bee  
(Sonia Rutstein BMI & Kasper Lapp KODA copyright 2011)

Once upon a rose
Lived a very little princess

Ruling all alone
All settled on her throne
She was the queen of everything
That she could see
Then she fell in love with the Honey Bee

Every day at dawn as the sun lit up the petals
The Honey Bee would come

And find the rose's tongue
She'd say hello but he'd ignore her and just go
He was so busy
He'd miss the kisses she would blow

Waiting waiting hoping dreaming
That one day
He would wake up
She's the queen of all the garden
But she can't make him fall in love

One day she was gone
And at first he didn't notice
Slowly he began to feel the coldness of the morn
He never knew of all the love she felt for him
And so it goes, we'll never know
What could have been

 

3/2 - Imagine (John Lennon)

 

4/2 - (Thank Yous)

 

5/2 - Sexual Telepathy  (words and music Sonia Rutstein copyright 1984 BMI)

All of the fire burning inside ya, be true now
All of the moment, it's yours you can own it
Be true now
Sometimes when we're talking I can feel you walking
Through my mind
Just like now today I don't have much to say
But I will in time
All of the pretense, no reason for pretense
Be true now
Sexual Telepathy, Sexual Telepathy
Ah, ah, ah
Right now

 

6/2 - Where Have All The Flowers Gone? (Pete Seeger)

 

7/2 - Perfect Shade (Blue)
(Sonia Rutstein  BMI & Jane Snyder ASAP copyright 2012)

I can't put my finger on it
Nothing's changed since yesterday

But the blues just came upon me
Like a hurricane in May
And I hope that by tomorrow
I can put a smile back on
Find a reason to be happy
Let the blues be really gone

Chorus:
If I'm gonna be blue

If I'm gonna be blue
If I'm gonna be blue...
It's gotta be the perfect shade
If I'm gonna be blue
Since I'm gonna be blue
If I'm gonna be blue
It's got to be custom made...

Don't need anyone's permission
I'll just give in to myself
Spend the day without ambition
Leave those deadlines on the shelf
Thinking the things I need to think
Taking the time I want to take
To figure out how I can heal and
Maybe learn from my mistakes

Chorus

Like a brand new box of crayons
Colors fill the world I know
But when I'm feeling down
There's just one that really shows...

Chorus

 

8/2 - The Other Man   (words and music Sonia Rutstein copyright 2003 BMI)

there's a chunk of blue gum stuck to the bottom
of the bunk bed that I'm lying under

laying low looking up through the wood slats
counting the lightning distance by thunder
tonight we'll drive across the city
we've been sleeping on the other side
and we'll put lots of hairspray in our hair
to look pretty anticipation keeps us alive
now I don't know where I'm going
I barely know where I've been
all I know is I'm still looking for...
the other man

the buzz of the air conditioner working
overtime trying to keep us cool
but I seem to remember passing a warning sign
back when having a hammer was the perfect tool
tonight we'll drive to the radio station
negotiate the angles of our guitars
it's a chance to sing to this nation
use our wings and get out of these cars
now I don't know where I'm going
I barely know where I've been
all I know is I'm still looking for...
the other man

when I was 3, I wanted to be 10
when I was 10, wanted to be 16
when I was red, I wanted to be blue
when I was green, I wanted to be you
then came a tap upon my shoulder
telling me that every age is older
now, I'm not a millionaire but I can take you there

'cause what I've seen is priceless: mountains
oceans and hands and you can go there too
you just gotta tell your president, your prime minister
tell your senator and your janitor
bank tellers and lawyers, and sons and daughters
mothers and brothers, sisters and lovers
fathers and nurses and drivers of hearses
rabbis and cantors and grocery man handlers
and all other spiritual custodians
to stop buying and lying, cheating, deleting
mistreating and bombing, 'cause I am...
the other man

then we'll drive across the country
we've been weeping on the other side
and we'll put lots of anti-ammunition
in our hearts and lungs
it's not the gas masks that'll keep us alive now
I know where I'm going
and I know where you've been
and I'm happy just to free...
the other man
'cause I'm the other man
that's who I am
I'm the other man

 

9 - Ari Ari    (words and music by Sonia Rutstein copyright 2012 BMI)

Ari Ari won't you come and play your song for me
Ari Ari won't you come and play your song for me

I reach across the desert sky
In the middle of the night...
I take your hand in mine
And together we make light...

Ari Ari won't you come and play your song for me
Ari Ari won't you come and play your song for me

We left Karmiel at nine
Drove up up up to the Golan Heights
The stars became so close
And the moon so big and bright

Ari Ari won't you come and play your song for me
Ari Ari won't you come and play your song for me

My friend Steven doesn't believe in God
He thinks we're all mermaids and frogs

But if he was standing there
And the light was pouring through his hair
He could feel Schina everywhere...

Ari Ari won't you come and play your song for me
Ari Ari won't you come and play your song for me

Looking to my right I see an angel
Looking to my left I see an angel
And I'm riding on a donkey when the donkey stops
So I take off my blinders and I see
He sees more than me... more than me

Ari Ari won't you come and play your song for me
Ari Ari won't you come and play your song for me

Ani yodat ani mevina kat tsat
Ani yodat ani mevina kat tsat
(i know i understand a little)

 

All songs written by SONiA Rutstein except otherwise indicated. BMI SR copyright Ⓟ 2016. All Rights Reserved.